The creation of user groups, sometimes referred to as buddy lists, is well known. In the art of computer networking, user groups provide for services such as instant messaging.
It has been proposed that such user groups may be provided for in mobile communications networks, to provide user groups between users of terminals in the network. Given the nature of mobile communications networks, it has been proposed that it would be advantageous to create temporary user groups, where users that are temporarily located in a particular local area, such as attending a conference, may be brought together in a temporary user group.
Such proposed techniques rely upon network location algorithms in the mobile communications network in order to determine the locations of mobile terminals, and then provide information to a conference provider or such like that pays the mobile communications network service for the identities of the mobile terminals in the conference area.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved technique for creating user groups in mobile terminal communities, and particularly for creating temporary user groups.